Start Saying, Yes!
Shannon King, Charity Director
Life can get boring, monotonous, and predictable. Do you ever feel like life is going nowhere and has gotten stagnant? Do you need a change of pace? It’s time to stop playing it safe and change things up. Albert Einstein explained it accurately when he said, “If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.” Makes sense. So, if we want new experiences we’re going to have to start saying yes!
Eric Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman, during his commencement address at the University of California at Berkeley said, “Find a way to say yes to things. Say yes to invitations to a new country. Say yes to meeting new friends. Say yes to learning a new language, picking up a new sport. Yes, is how you get your first job, and your next job. Yes, is how you find your spouse, and even your kids. Even if it’s a bit edgy, a bit out of your comfort zone, saying yes means you will do something new, meet someone new and make a difference in your life, and likely in others’ lives as well. … Yes, is a tiny word that can do big things. Say it often.”
It’s important, in life, to always continue to grow and learn. Any time we try something new we grow. Make the most of every day, grasp opportunities when they come, and don’t be afraid to fail. Remember, failure is a gift. Besides, it’s not always about winning or success, but about what you learn and the fun you have along the journey.
We need to experience new things, meet new people, make new friends. Finding a way to force this to happen can be a challenge. The beat way to bring new experiences into our lives to simply allow it to come to us and being positively responsive when it does.
Try committing to saying yes to everything for just a day or two. Say yes to your spouse, say yes to the invitation, say yes to trying a food that you have prejudged as something that you won’t like. When your child yells, “Mom!” or “Dad!”, try saying “Yes?” instead of “What?!”. Say yes more to the kind of things that you’d normally shy away from. Saying yes puts you into the randomness of life. Enjoy the process and see where it takes you. This will inevitably take you to the edge of your comfort zone, but that is where growth happens.
Say yes to your desires, your thoughts, your emotions. Allow yourself to feel what you really feeling instead of shoving it down. Give that part of you a voice for once and allow it to break free. You’ll be amazed at how good and freeing that feels.
Start saying yes to your needs. Say yes to giving more time to yourself, for time to exercise, read, love, or taking a nap. When your spouse wants to hug or kiss you while you are cooking or washing dishes, say YES! Stop for a moment and allow yourself to enjoy it. Allow yourself to receive.
Start saying yes to life. Life isn’t just about work, cleaning and taking care of others. It’s about taking care of you too. It’s about learning and doing new things. Life is a journey that should unfold before you. It comes with new adventures, new friends, new experiences. You aren’t meant to live in a stagnant rut. When you say yes to things that you would normally say no to you end up in new places, having new experiences, and most certainly having more fun along the way. So, what do you say? Are you ready to say yes?
